We’re all made of Stardust.

Some time has passed since my last blog post.  Perhaps, even the biggest gap I’ve had in my 13 years of having a blog. The world has shifted so much since my last entry when I was fresh off a flight from San Diego.  It has shifted in a scary way, yet also in a way that has found us all searching for ways to fill our minds and our bodies with things and moments that feel good.  It’s tough.  It’s a work in progress, surely. Long before the days of Covid19 and quarantine shutdowns my husband, kids and I had been looking to fill our upcoming summers with even more adventures on Lake Michigan.  We love this beautiful state so much, and we love being near the water even more. For the past few years we’ve bounced around along the coast in different AirBnB’s, family and sometimes friends in tow. But at the end of last summer we decided to change things up and we bought our first boat. Well, my first boat as my husband had already had boats and even lived on a lake when we started dating. To make a long story short, we weighed all our needs and wants and found just the right vessel that checked all of our boxes down in Georgia, and had her shipped up here in mid October while we secured our slip at the dock and made sure she was ready to hit The Great Lakes come spring.

We decided to dock her in Muskegon, just a short drive up I-96 and a drive that I’ve done nearly all my life.  A place where I was born and where most of my family still lives.  It’s been wonderful to make my way back to them, despite the need to visit safely and take the necessary precautions. My cousin, Charlotte has her boat slipped directly behind us and we never imagined as little girls this day would come.  We’d be adults, our kids and grandkids running the docks and sunset cruises singing along to the same songs we made up dance routines to as kids.

Needless to say, this summer has also brought us a virtual roller coaster of emotions.  This time has forced into a time to “pause”, and with not too many safe places to go, and surely no large gatherings the timing for having our first summer on Lake Michigan couldn’t have been better.  Every weekend since the shutdown, we’ve hopped on the road to spend days at a time on the water watching sunsets (it never gets old!) with the kids and even snuck away for our anniversary last weekend for a few nights sans little ones.

We’ve spent every open weekend on the water, and thankfully between our boat and the marina where’s she’s slipped we have everything we need to stay as long as we’d like.

We named her Stardust, as a nod to my husband’s love & knowledge for all things that live in the sky & beyond. The name suits our boat, and especially suits us. Excuse the random, sometimes filtered and sometimes unfiltered iPhone photos. Sometimes the best camera is the one you have with you.